It's what I want
by Tessie13
Summary: At times like this, they know how much they mean to one another. When they finish each other's sentences. When a glance in the eye has them laughing. Only after so much time has past, its a little annoying to have to pretend that they are nothing more than best friends. After a whole year, its plain old sickening. —- Austin/Ally, Trish/Dez
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Disney has that title all locked up. **

* * *

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_it's what i want_

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_._

_the hours i spend with you i look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. you and you alone make me feel that i am alive. other men it is said have seen angels, but i have seen thee and thou art enough.  
__~george moore_

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* * *

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It's not like any other day they've ever experienced. It's similar to a holiday; it keeps them both up late, smiling into their pillows, impatiently waiting for the sun to rise and the day to begin. When they do wake up, it's full faces of teeth and dimples, and even some squeals.

She feels the need to dress up, but doesn't exactly know how to. But she decides on a sentimental outfit over a glittery new skirt; sure, she would've defiantly made some of the greatest memories of her teen years in it, but she feels better in something that already has amazing moments woven in the fabrics. She does her whole routine the way she did that day, a whole year ago. And it leaves her feeling warm inside, knowing that she's so much of a better person, so changed and different, but it only improved her.

He can't even sleep in, like normal. He's just so jumpy, and is eager to get over to her house. He knows that she'll be up by now, probably already preparing their breakfast. His outfit has never meant much to him; whatever his hand finds, he throws on and goes. But today, he already has the outfit neatly lying over his desk chair. He wonders if she'll be able to remember its significance, and then he wonders when he became so much like a chick; it's not like it matters if he wears that shirt, or that necklace. The only thing that matters is that it's been just them, when it really comes down to it, writing his songs and helping him give the best performances possible, for an entire year. Yes, Trish and Dez contribute so much and he can't thank them enough, but they're partners. More than that, though. Best friends. The other puzzle piece.

He doesn't bother knocking, as usual. It's not a rare occurrence for him to barge in at any given time, and yell "I'm home!" and he does the same thing this time, only not as he's walking in. First, he sits down at the kitchen table, leans back, and it comes out in more of a content sigh.

She smiles wide and flips another pancake over. He's slightly afraid to eat whatever else she has made, but he's choked through her creations before and will certainly do it again for her, on today of all days.

"Hey Austin," she says happily, flashing him the smile that she will no doubt be sporting all day. He laughs lightly, and keeps up his smile, too.

"That's all I get? Just a 'hi'? Did you forget what today is?" and then brown meets hazel, and he jumps up, while she quickly walks right up to him, into his arms. It's a regular hug at first, but then he pulls her off the floor and spins her around more times than either of them can count. She's giggling like a maniac, and he's chuckling (cause Austin Moon does _not_ giggle like a freaking' school girl–though he thinks Ally can pull it off) and then he sets her back down, but feels like hugging her again.

"Happy anniversary, Austin," she says with her straight, white teeth gleaming, on full display.

"That's more like it," he says slightly sarcastically, and receives a hit on the arm from the brunette, but she's rolling her eyes in a manor that's just _so her, _and knows that everything is already more than perfect. "Happy anniversary, Ally."

She sent another smile at him, before rushing back to the stove top to tend to the most likely burnt pancakes.

It isn't the stereotypical anniversary; it's just been a full year since they first met in Sonic Boom, and it means so much to them. Even Ally can't find words to describe how much she loves this day, and what it means to her.

She mutters a "oh no," and then throws away the failed attempt of a pancake. She sticks the steel flat she was using to cook them on in the sink, and then looks back to Austin.

"Looks like today is an iHop day," and he starts to laugh lightly as he leads them out the door, into the car.

* * *

They come into the restaurant, making quite a loud entrance. She's cracking up, and so is he, earning a few annoyed stares from business women sipping coffee's.

"No, I can top that; when Trish fired Dallas from Sonic Boom," she says as they slide into a booth, still laughing.

Their reminiscing in noteworthy moments from the year, trying to see who can come up with the best.

"Oh please; that's easily to beat. The time you fell in that big bowl of Ms. Suzy's soup," and that sends them into a howling fit. Lots of people make a point to get up and leave, but others whisper to each other, saying that its _Austin and Ally out on their year anniversary._ It's all over both their tweeter accounts; wishes for a happy day, congratulations; they had no idea so many people knew, let alone cared.

"The time you turned sweaty and orange on the jumbo screen."

"The time Dez got stuck on that giant mouse, and we had to buy all that glue remover to peel him off." the laughing is too much, and then after a minute or two, they give a happy sigh while smiling.

"This isn't a funny moment, but still, it's one I'll remember; the time Dallas didn't dance with me at Trish's quinceañera, so you sacrificed your performance to step in."

Austin blushes slightly, and rubs a hand on the back of his neck. "I am a nice guy, aren't I?"

She rolls her eyes at his ego, and pushes his arm slightly. "This is why I don't give you compliments. You're head takes up all the space in the room, and then no one can breathe."

He smiles and laughs. "Admit it; you're lucky to have me as a best friend."

She closes her eyes and shakes her head no, but he knows she's just being stubborn, because she is smiling.

"Moving on. What do you have planned first for us today?"

"Not uh; you don't get to know. It's a surprise."

"So in other words, if you tell me I'll refuse cause it's something I hate."

He smiles and shrugs. "Basically."

The waitress comes over and takes their order; though she already knows what they will say. Team Austin are very regular customers.

It's a breakfast like none other they've ever had; it's full of ten times more laughs, recalling memories, and just friendliness in general. He catapults a few piece of fruit at her with a spoon, and she fails to catch any of them in her mouth. He guesses what she feeds him, and gets every food correct. They even have a battle of squirting syrup at each other, but the winner was never determined.

He slaps two twenty dollar bills down on the table before she can even reach for her purse. She answers with a scowl and a roll of the eyes, but he doesn't care. He wonders why she doesn't just get used to him paying; she's never paid for anything, or even gone in half, when they are out together.

He holds the door for her too, and opens her car door. It's the first real time she thinks of how much of gentleman he is.

"Still not telling me where we are going?"

"Nope." and with that, he starts the car and drives.

She turns on the radio and stares out the window. The song "She Will be Loved," by Maroon 5, and immediately she starts singing along, hitting every note. The first thing he thinks is _I need to drive her around more often, _and he knows from now on, every time he hears this song, he'll only hear her melodious voice.

* * *

She steps out of the car, takes a look at the neon sign, and looks at him expectantly.

"What?"

"Seriously, Austin?"

"Oh come on, Ally. We've gone bowling, what, a whole two times in the past year? It's time we had a real memory moment here."

"But you know I'm not athletic!" she whines, but he just smiles, grabs her hand, and pulls her into the Bowl-a-Rama.

She picks out a nice light, red-with-sparkles-fused-in-together ball, and he gets a pure neon yellow one.

He goes first, and gets a perfect strike. She glares at him, and tries to follow through on the complicated throw he did, but ultimately fails and it ends up in the gutter.

"Can't I at least get bumpers?" she asks him, clearly annoyed.

"No, Ally. Here, I'll show you." He puts his arms around her, and takes her through the steps. They release together, and she gets her very first strike, ever. She's jumping up and down, not noticing that Austin is blushing from their recent cliché, romantic moment.

"Did you see that? I got every pin! Touchdown!" She's smiling and still jumping, causing him to smile at slightly laugh at her. He knows that she's just kidding about the whole touchdown thing; it's just her catch phrase she uses when doing anything athletic.

"Yes, Als. You are a true pro."

She gives him a look that silences him instantly, and he actually feels a twinge of guilt over saying that. It's a rare occurrence that Austin Moon ever feels guilty, especially over something as small as a sarcastic remark.

"You can never just be proud of me, can you?" She says in a mocking tone, and he knows she's holding back laughter at the thought of him taking her so seriously. And she isn't as serious as she was a year ago; he's changed that about her, just as she changed the fact that he isn't just a blob of irresponsibility.

He shakes his head, slightly smiling. Then he grabs her by the arm, pulls her into a bear hug, runs his hands through her soft wavy hair, and whispers, "Fine. I'm proud of you. Great shot. Happy now?"

She pulls back, smiling like a child. "Of course I am!" and with that, she runs to the ball dispenser, picks up her own, and attempts to repeat the form Austin showed her.

He sits back in the chair and smiles as she knocks down all but three pins. She throws again, this time only missing one. She crosses both arms over her chest and pouts, not happy with the result; Austin can't help but notice how full her lips look when they are puffed out the way she has them.

A pattern forms as the game nears its ending; he gets a strike, she almost gets a spare. She gets a spare, he gets another strike. He throws a few gutter balls, spares, and just plain misses a few times, but the majority of the time he's getting perfect shots. When the twelfth frame rolls around, she has hair falling in her eyes, and is sporting a look that is out for victory.

"Remember, Ally, kiss the lane with the ball," he says while picking at his pre-ripped jeans.

She answers with a scowl, and hisses out, "Yes, yes, I know!" she steps forward and chucks ball down the lane, coming close to the last pin, but it misses by a hair.

He smirks and gets up to pat her on the back, but she's biting her check and looking the other way.

"Oh, come on, Ally. You can't seriously be mad! It's just a dumb game!"

"It's not that I'm mad at, Austin," she says it in a very unique tone; it's like she wants to be mad, but it comes out almost as if she's tired.

"Well, then, what is it?" she looks up at him and sighs.

"You wouldn't understand," and then she just walks past him, to their table, so she can take off her shoes.

He's standing in the same spot confused, but he whips around and grabs her by the arm, so he can make her turn and face himself. "Well, then, help me to understand."

She bites on her lip and looks away again, reaching the brink of tears.

"Ally," he says softly, running his fingers up and down her arm, "you know you can tell me anything."

"If I tell you this, it'll create drama. We don't need that, today of all days," all of a sudden his heart does a flip; one of the main pieces of drama that threatens them is romance. He's sure she is going to confess her true feelings, and he's actually _excited_ about in more than a few ways.

He closes his eyes to brace himself and says, "I don't care. Tell me."

She takes a shaky, deep breath in, and says, "You just can't ever be bad at anything, can you?" she slides the right shoe off her foot, places them both on the counter, and then walks to the door with haste.

Once again, he stands still in the place she left him, confused beyond belief. Did she really believe that? No, she couldn't think that. Austin had his bad days, his faults, his mistakes, his failures; but that's a part of life. As he collects himself, he races to the girl that's still holding the door open for him.

She's standing there, looking at the ground. He leans against the glass door with an elbow propped, and takes her face in his hand.

"Ally, I'm bad at plenty of stuff."

"I don't want to have this conversation," she says shaking her head and walking outside.

"But we're going to," he states chasing after her, "and you're going to listen."

"Oh am I?" she calls over her shoulder on the way to the car.

"Yes! Ally, I suck at a lot of things!" he's not exactly shouting it, but she's a good deal ahead of him, and he has to project his voice.

"Like what! Give me one example!" she stops in her tracks, and turns around, her expression wild, and hands placed firmly on her hips.

"Writing songs! Math! Cleaning! School! Not getting a big head! Remembering! Workin–"

"Stop being stupid! You can do all of that." she spins around on her heels, and starts striding to the car again. But he doesn't lazily walk after her; he full on sprints.

"Why don't you stop being stupid, and admit no one's perfect," he says out of breath when he finally catches up to her. He has an easy smile on, as if she's being completely ridicules and he couldn't care less.

"No one but you," she mutters, while crossing her arms over her chest. He tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, and smiles wider.

"Ally, if anyone in this friendship is perfect, it would be you." a blush spreads lightly across her face, and her eyes are dancing in the bright sunlight. "It's our one year anniversary. Let's not spend it fighting." He smiles, and casually throws his arm over her shoulder as they continue to the car.

He opens the door for her again, and as soon as the key is in the ignition, her hand goes to the radio button. 'We Are Young' is playing in the second verse, and they both join in. She gives him a look when he lowers the windows and turns up the volume, but says nothing. He just wants the world to hear them both singing along, being themselves.

She has no idea where they are going, and experiences a brief feeling of terror when he takes a turn onto the back roads of Miami. Actually, it isn't even Miami once they take that turn; just outskirts that lead to dead end cow pastures. She trusts him, though, and gladly takes it as an opportunity to scream out some more lyrics of their favorite songs.

* * *

They pull into the deserted green land; Ally never knew she lived only about an hour away from such a gorgeous view. The stone road is sparkling clean from the lack of use, and the field itself is a painting. The rolling mounds, the patches of wildflowers, the way the grass is up to her knees. Everything about it just screams fake, but she can touch and smell the nature; she's wondering how she'll ever be able to leave.

"Do you like it?" Austin asks, breaking her zone.

"Are you kidding? It's...breathtaking," she lets out a sigh of content, and stares out into nowhere.

"Well, come on. We didn't come all the way out here just to stare at it," he opens his door and hops out. Suddenly, she notices the small, red, 50's style car parked a few yards behind them.

"Austin!" she can hear someone yell in the distance. She places the voice instantly, and hops out of the car, curious.

"What's going on?" her eyes are squinting in the blinding light, and her hand is covering her eyes, acting as a visor.

"Video time!" Dez yells excitedly, and clicks a button on his professional camera; a gift for his 16th birthday.

"What?" she looks over to Austin alarmed. She isn't a camera person, and these three people know that better than anyone.

"Relax, Ally; these are just videos for fun. They aren't going online or anything," he answers with a reassuring smile, and she walks closer to her friends.

"But we haven't written any original songs," she states, still confused and a little edgy.

"We're just doing covers," he shrugs, and she closes more of the space between them.

Trish looks her over, and the corners of her mouth turn down slightly. "Come over here," she directs forcefully, and Ally moves towards her without hesitation.

Trish French braids Ally's bangs out of her face, and pins it there with two bobby pins from her emergency stash. She smiles at the outfit her best friend wore today, and notices Austin did the same; they are both wearing the exact outfits they had worn a year ago. With a few modifications, of course; Austin's jeans weren't the same, considering the ones he had a year ago would probably be three inches short. And Ally's shoes are different as well; her old pair would be tight around the toes. They almost looked stuffed into their clothes, but it's not too bad and they still have complete mobility.

Austin walks over to the car they drove to the clearing, and hooks his iPhone up to the speaker system. He hands Trish a remote, and tells her to click play as soon as Dez yells action.

He takes Ally by the hand, and pulls her to the hood of the older car. Dez is setting up a wind-blocking station, and marking areas he needs to stand in order to get good shots of the two.

"What song are we covering?" she asks, tapping her fingers against the hood in a jittery manor.

"You'll know it as soon as you hear it. But remember, I'm the one singing. You just...act the part, okay?"

She gives him a cautious look, and nods her head 'yes' slowly. He props her up more, so she is full on sitting on the hood of the car, and then Dez tells them to get in final position. Before she can ask why they are taking a goof-off videotaping so seriously, her second best guy friend calls 'action', and the music blasts into her ears.

He was right. She knows this song. She knows this song very well, and is tempted to mouth along with Austin, but restrains herself, knowing that he told her to just play her part. It's a peculiar song to choose, but she plays it in the practice room enough to know that he most likely gets it stuck in his head.

It's just the instrumental version, and he's not even mouthing the words. But they can both hear them in their minds. He smiles, and cups her face in his hands. Dez softly tells them from the side to laugh, press their foreheads together, and hold hands at various points until the song is over. She's blushing so hard, and he's just smiling. They have to do the whole scene again, because Dez claims that when he edits it together later, he'll choose the better take.

Then Dez has Austin driving up the road with the 50's car at top speed, stopping in the clearing abruptly, and then he gets out of the car, slamming the door. This time, when the music plays through the speakers, he sings along. He walks across the field, sits down and picks grass, leans against the car, and just stands and sings all throughout this scene. Once again, Dez has him run through it all again.

Once the song ends for the fourth time, Dez says he wants to do one more scene. It's one with both Austin and Ally again, and he says it's going to be three takes, each time different. They start off lying in the grass, hands intertwined. He points up to the sky, and she curls into him laughing. They are allowed to talk during this scene, unlike the last ones, so it's a lot easier for her to look natural on camera. Each take has something new, something improvised; the first had him holding out a picked flower to her, while they walk further into the field. The second had her bending forward, laughing so hard her eyes were only squinted slits. In the last, he has her jump on himself piggy-back style, and then he runs around, arms stretched out wide as if they were wings, with hers on top.

He isn't supposed to sing along for this scene, but he can't help it; the beat is so catchy, and it's a silent moment after laughter._ "I should, I should oh, I should have kissed you."_

Only inches separate then, and they both are desperate to feel one another's lips on their own, but she pulls back, trying to convince herself that they are just caught up in the moment; music has the tendency to do that to them, a lot.

Trish claps, and then tells them to leave. Really, it should be a celebration between all four Team Austin members, but Dez and Trish had insisted that Austin and Ally should spend the day with alone time. They both have a few guesses why, but don't vocalize their suspicions to avoid an awkward conversation.

They step into the car, and he turns the radio back on. Austin finds it strange Ally doesn't sing along, but merely looks out her side window. Once they put a good two miles between themselves and the clearing, she asks, "Why did we just spend over an hour making a music video to 'I Should Have Kissed You' by One Direction? For starters, you don't even really like them, and–"

"Oh, come on. Trish got you hooked on them, and I hear you sing their songs all the time. That's just the one I've heard most recently, and I really liked the beat. It's really dance-y."

She raises an eyebrow at him, but his eyes are glued to the road. She just shakes her head and changes the radio channel. On the way back, she eventually figures out where they are going; how could she not? It's where they spend basically all their free time.

He's the one who starts singing along to the radio again, and she's a little hesitant to join in for some reason, but gives into the urge; she is still mesmerized by how well their voices blend, even after all this time to get used to it.

* * *

When he pulls into the mall parking lot, he hands her a blind fold and says, "If you don't wear it, then you're going to have to stay here."

She sighs for the seemingly millionth time today, and juts her lower lip out partially. It's the third time her lips have looked so tempting to him today, as well. She ties on the bandana over her eyes reluctantly, and then he guides her step by step.

The walk drags on forever to her, and she's sure her feet are getting blisters, even though she walks further than this to school every morning. "How much further, Austin?" she questions in a whiny tone.

He laughs lightly, and her mind is clouded with mental pictures of him smiling. "We're almost there. Just be patient."

She huffs, and tucks a section of her hair behind an ear. "This doesn't even seem like the way to the store," she says suspiciously.

Her left shoulder loses the feeling of his steady hand on it, and once again she has mental pictures flooding her mind. Only this time, he has a hand protectively on his neck, a nervous habit he's always had.

She was expecting an answer, but he stays silent as he guides her forward. She's getting really impatient, and sick of all the surprises he's handing out today.

"Austin! Where are we going!" he smirks, knowing and loving how much he is bothering her.

"Just turn the corner and...we're here!" he says, and she is just about to rip off the blind fold, but Austin stops her right before she can.

_He's so frustrating, _she thinks bitterly. He has always had a talent for pushing her buttons, and after all the time that had past, she thought she had gotten used to it; but now, she realizes it's never going to be something she'll just brush off. He's going to annoy her, make her want to scream, shout, rip her hair out, and make her want to just shut him out completely. He's done it before, and there's no doubt he'll do it again. It's almost like he's teasing her; right when he gets better, right when she's on the verge of falling into him solely, he pulls her right back out of the water. It seems as if it is his way to keep her interested.

"Keep it on till I tell you to take it off," he says in an obvious voice. After he rethinks what he just said, he's thankful she can't see him blush a deep crimson.

She grumbles out something unintelligent, and he drags her into a building that's a breeze of frosty air. She knows she's inside an actual building, as she can hear the door click open and closed. Her nose is filled with thousands of different scents, so it doesn't take her long to figure out he's taking her to lunch.

She barely hears him whispering to who she assumes is their server, and then he drags her a little bit further into the sweet smelling restaurant. He sits her down, too, and then she hears his own chair squeak as he pulls himself forward towards the table. Just by sitting down she can tell this place must have a level of elegance; the upholstery of the cushion is a silky fabric that she can't stop running her hands over. The wood is soft, and curves around her back in the most comfortable way. She's so eager to tear of the accursed bandana blocking her vision, but he wants her to wait, and she's not just going to defy rules he sets.

"Okay, are you officially curious?" Ally can hear the smirk in his voice, and is blinded by frustration.

"I've been curious for however long it took to get here," she says exasperated.

"So, then, you probably want to take off that blindfold?" his voice is so innocent, he's just playing the part so well that she wonders why he doesn't want to pursue an acting career as well.

"What do you think, Austin!" she says, throwing her hands up impulsively.

He laughs softly, "Well, I guess you can take it off now."

Her hands fly up, and she carelessly rips of the black fabric that was shielding her sight. Once the images start pouring into her eyes, she unmeaning gasps out loud. She's never been to a place, for only lunch, with so much class. She never even knew there was a place like this in the mall. With the high, arching ceilings, to the windows that stretch from the floor to the sky, with the drapes cascading down, side by side one another. The mahogany tables with one-of-a-kind carvings and candles adorning the top, flickering. She feels majorly under dressed; women with pearls and cocktail dresses traipse through the place as if they own it.

"What do you think?" Austin asks, after giving her a few minutes to soak in the atmosphere; he predicted she would need some time to process it.

"I think...wow," she's says, still gawking around the room.

"And...?" his hand is making a rolling motion, gesturing for her to go on.

"Expensive. This is going to be expensive," she says, snapping back to him and shaking her head 'no', as if to tell him they aren't eating here because of the prices.

Once again, Austin laughs at his companions antics. "Ally, don't worry about it. My family isn't exactly poor, if you've forgotten."

"Are you sure we should eat here," she says raising an eyebrow; he knows she doesn't want to leave, and would throw a fit if he tried to go anywhere else. She was already putting the napkin in her lap, for god sakes! No way was she going to just get up and exit.

He rolls his eyes and says, "If I said no, we can't eat here, you would throw your spoon at me."

She does her famous look; the half smile from knowing he's right, the slight roll of her irises, and the small hand gesture that signals she wants him to be quiet. It's so common for her, and he has become so attached to how it is exactly her; awkward, quirky, and adorable.

"I would, too."

They smile and laugh, and that continues on through the hour they spend there. Honestly, the laughing and smiling is to the point of nauseating it happens so often, but they both live and breathe on it. If it suddenly stopped, they would lose their way, and maybe never find it again. Everything from the past year has just become so customary; the dimples from up-turned lips, the yellow three by three sheets of paper passed back and forth during classes, the Team Austin ice cream sessions at the beach every Friday, the way all their laughs melt together in harmony. It's as if nothing mattered, counted, or had an impact before any of this. Every memory from beyond a year ago was now a blurry haze, something insignificant between the lines.

As soon as the check book was slapped down o the table, Austin snatches it before Ally can make a grab for it. His jaw almost drops to the floor at the astronomical price, but he restrains knowing that Ally is reading his features, analyzing every movement. He swallows silently, and pulls out his wallet. Yes, it's draining everything he has on him, but she's worth it, and he'll just text Dez to bring his other wallet to Sonic Boom. She tries to count every bill he puts down, but he catches on and counts it under the table. Thankfully, the tablecloth is too long, fluffy, and heavy for her to pull up and peak under, and she doesn't like the stares she gets when she does.

He puts down the last bill, and pushes his chair in as he stands up. She follows his actions, and he holds a hand out for her. She looks at it questionably for a second, but takes it despite her doubts. So what that the simple touch makes her insides boil with emotion? So what the way his eyes flame with beauty makes her heart melt? He obviously wants to hold her hand, and she obviously wants to hold his.

"So where–"

"–Are we off to now?" Austin finishes for her, grinning. Ally wants to give him a scowl for knowing her so well, but she loves when they are so in sync that they can finish each other's sentences. It makes their friendship feel whole, in her opinion; so she just gives him a small smile, and unconsciously squeezing his hand.

He squeezes back while looking down at her, and is tempted to kiss her hair, but refrains, knowing that he's pushing the boundaries by simply holding her hand. It almost makes him mad, how they can act so flirtatious to each other, but have to pull back when it actually is leading to something; how could something that feels so good, so _right_, ever be so wrong?

"You don't have to know everything all the time. Just except the surprise, Lee Lee." She smiles at the nickname; she has always known that Ally is already a nickname, but people have always insisted on changing that out or shortening it even more. 'Lee Lee' was from the two 'L's she had in her name, created by Austin on a late night in the practice room. It's not her favorite, or his, but they have so many for each other that it can be hard to think of one on short notice.

"You'd think I'd be used to surprises by now, after a whole year with you," she says, cuddling up to his arm as they walk. "Besides, I know we're going the store now."

His other hand automatically fly's to the nape of his neck, but he doesn't comment. They don't talk much during their walk; she points out clouds that remind her of random things, he bumps her and gestures to the people that wave at them, so she'll know to wave back. The connection of their hands never breaks, and many times Austin finds his eyes wondering back to her. Every time, a smile appears on his face; more often than not, she feels the stare and turns to him, eyebrows raised. She would make some snarky comment about how a picture would last longer, but she doesn't exactly mind that he takes every opportunity he can to stare at her.

* * *

It's only about a ten minute walk, if even that, but when they arrive, Ally's jaw flops open. Austin smiles as she takes in the sight, knowing that once again, he did the unexpected.

"Why in the world is the baby grand out here?" she asks, bewildered. Her hand slips out of his, and her arms cross over her chest in an accusing manor.

He grins and shrugs, playing the laid back card, as usual. "Because it's such a beautiful day out."

"Austin! When my dad sees this, he's going to kill me. This doesn't even make sense. Although, then again, what is sense? Why should we question the fact tha–"

He put a hand over her mouth to keep her from rambling on. He secretly loves when she asks questions instead of chewing on her hair; to him, the later is cute in its own way, but it's not the most appealing thing to watch. Her warm breath is blowing right on his hand, and with anybody else, he would be worried that they might bite him. Austin just knows her too well; he knows Ally would never dream of putting her mouth on his germ infested hands.

He shakes his head in mock disappointment, and when he removes his hand, he puts his index finger to his own lips, signaling for her to keep quiet. Then he walks to the bench in front of the piano, stretches his arms and fingers out, and sits down. His hands are itching to play the faster tempo as soon as he makes contact with the keys, but he wants to play it the exact way he heard it the first time.

"_Flip a switch, turn on the lightning..."_ he continues on, and she just stares at him in awe. Her heart is swelling with pride and so many other things that she's almost worried she might explode, due to an over dose of emotions. A gathering of people form around the piano, but she stays right up against it, not even noticing the crowd. Their eyes are locked together with an unbreakable bond, and are currently in the deep valleys of la la land; a place only they know, a place where only they exist. She sings along during the chorus section, causing him to fill up with the same emotions as she feels. He would comment and congratulate her for singing in front of the collection of people, but he doesn't notice the on-lookers, either.

He plays the last key, then their hands got onto auto-pilot and fingers intertwine, but their eyes stay trained on one another. Simultaneously their faces are consumed with big old toothy grins, and many guys in the crowd mentally call Austin a softie, but Austin is too caught up in the moment — too caught up in Ally — to really care.

It's not even a real bench he's sitting on, just a wooden stool, so when Ally goes to sit down next to him she winds up on his lap instead. Her hands go over his, and then she presses down the keys for their second song, "Break Down the Walls," only it's just the chorus section and neither of them sing along. She turns back to him, and he rests his chin in the crook of her shoulder blade.

"Wanna write a new song?" he asks huskily into her ear, sending a strange sensation down her back. _That felt good,_ she thinks as she shifts slightly forward.

"Of course I do," she responds as she turns back to face the piano. She flicks her hands out absentmindedly as she ponders over inspiration. When Austin's fingers start to draw circles on the back of her hand, she's blinded by a mess of chords a lyrics. She immediately starts playing the complex riff that hit her, and his foot starts tapping out a steady beat.

"_A roller coaster ride, a rush of life, the feeling of the wind." _She stops to look back at him, as if asking for approval. He just nods, and then plays the piano part again.

"_No cries tonight, just the sound of our laughter,"_ she continues slowly, making it up on the spot. Austin does a roll, and then speeds the tempo up tremendously; it's not like the beginning was slow (or even finished, really) but he felt like it just needed something a little bit more unpredictable.

"_So if I hold your hand, will you hold mine too? Cause I feel like, just being with you," _he sings fast, and she's astonished he was able to do such good improvising.

"_What if I told you I meant every word? What if I told you the surprises were to keep you guessing? Oh, na na na, hey! Just stay close, just be here to stay!" _She sings out happily, for once proud of herself and her talent. They continue on for awhile, mixing chords and rhythms, words and rhymes.

When they are finished, she's over the top excited. She's positively exuberant, causing her to spin around at an alarmingly fast speed, fling her arms around his neck, and hug him with force. She's got so much energy and passion built up, they end up toppling over one another onto to cold concrete. He's laughing hard, to the point where he's almost sure his insides are splitting, and she's blushing and covering her face with her palms, as if trying to hide her own laughter.

"Ally–" he starts, cut off by their fit of hysterics. He waits a few more seconds, and starts again, "Ally, I–" he's once again cut off, but this time by a beeping noise coming from his watch. He checks the time, and his eyes widen to saucers.

"Oh, crap, we got to go! Please tell me you just wrote all that out?" He asks, standing up with alert. He helps her up, and she's over come with nerves by his sudden jumpy demeanor.

"Yeah, I wrote the lyrics as we sang them. You know me, and how I am with my book," she says slowly and cautiously.

"Perfect! Okay, come on, we have to go." He takes her hand in his own, and plows through the mall at lightning speeds. She throws apologies over her shoulders to the people they do manage to trample, while he just yells "Excuse us!" at the very top of his lungs.

Ally knows that they are heading back to the car — which, due to the parking slots closest to the fancy restaurant they ate at earlier, is all the way at the other end of the mall. She has no clue whatsoever about what could be so important, but she just goes with it, tripping over her own feet a few times in the process.

Dez and Trish stand in front of the convertible (a sweet sixteen present for Trish, from her parents) pacing, and whisper-yelling at each other. Once they spot the musical duo barreling towards them, tight smiles form. Even at a distance, Ally can see Trish's lips quiver a few times, no doubt from trying to hold back harsh words; but when Ally reaches her girl best friend, she's enclosed in a big embrace. She squeezed and picked up, much to her discomfort — she's finding more and more that she only likes it when Austin does that to her, and Austin alone.

Dez and Austin are a complete different story; Dez is handing Austin a new wallet, while Austin hands him the one he had on him. The redhead fluffs his friends hair, gives him a water bottle, index cards, a black blazer, and a brief case. Ally finds that all peculiar, but doesn't comment seeing as the two males are whispering to each other frantically.

Once Trish breaks off of her, and turns to pull out a large, dark silver bag from the back seats of the car. She hands it to her taller friend, and warns her not to open it until she is alone. Ally is almost afraid of what could be in there, but she trusts Trish with her life, so it's simply a passing thought — not even a real feeling. Then Trish gets a little teary eyed, and captured Ally in yet another hug. Only this time, Ally isn't guarded; she's soft and comforting, wondering what is wrong with her Latina 'BFFL'.

"Trish, why are you sad?" The raven haired girl pulls back, and dramatically wipes away a non-existent tear.

"It's–it's nothing, Al. You and Austin are going to be so late, you better leave," she says while opening up the passenger side door; but Ally crosses her arms, and stares at the other girl intimidating.

"I'm not leaving till you tell me why you're all...weepy," she says as her eyes narrow into slits. Trish plays with her hands and looks to the side for a moment, but she turns back to Ally and opens her mouth wide, as if the world's biggest secret is about to come gushing out of her lips. Only Austin comes in and scoops Ally up, plops her in the seat, and then jumps over his own door, into the driver's side.

"Sorry, guys, we'll call you afterwards!" he yells over his shoulder, as he pulls out. Ally just sits quietly, arms outstretched, holding on to her seat for dear life; she suddenly notices how she is no longer in Austin's Volkswagen Jetta, but Trish's convertible. She mentally slaps herself; she saw Dez and Trish pacing right in front of it! How could she not have registered the difference sooner!

"Why are we in this car, and not yours?" she asks quietly, leaning back in her seat, but still on edge.

He looks over at her ad smiles slightly, "Oh, because."

She lets out a grunt of frustration and mumbles, "Great. More surprises. Just what I need." She snuggles into her seatbelt, and closes her eyes, hoping to get a few minutes of sleep. He doesn't bother turning on the radio, knowing that they do have at least a twenty minute drive in front of them, and she could use some sleep.

His eyes keep wandering down to the colossal purse at Ally's feet, wondering what could possibly be in there. He wondered if she wondered what was in his brief case. He stayed silent, though, just keeping to himself, and for the first time all day, really thinking over the past few weeks, months, year. It leaves him smiling and warm, and he's filled with those bubbly, cheesy feelings Ally always gives him.

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**A/N: Keep reading :P**


	2. Chapter 2

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Austin parks the car in the VIP section, an action that makes him feel like they've actually _gotten_ somewhere. He lightly shakes Ally awake, and her big, brown, doe eyes flap open, eyelashes tangled together. She stretches out her arms, and takes in the environment.

It takes her a minute to place where she is, but then memories of a cab driver dumping herself and Trish out into the front parking lot flood back to her. Sneaking last the guard, going into the wrong set area, destroying a talk show studio — how could she forget? She looks back at him with a blank expression, as if she can't process words.

"Remember this place?" he says slyly with a smirk, hopping over the car door. He walks around to open hers, and throws an arm over her shoulder as soon as she's standing up.

She gives him another look that has nothing that defines it in particular, and says, "I'll never forget it."

The walk in, and sign their names on seemingly billions of verification charts. They're handed lanyards with blue tags at the bottom that are covered in laminate; an item only true celebrities that need real crowd control are given. Austin doesn't really think it's a necessary gift, but is flattered none the less, and Ally is just shocked she even had to give a signature.

He switches his plaid jacket for the black blazer Dez gave him earlier in their dressing room. She just states in the mirror, silent; she's, for the first time ever, tempted to put on some of the extravagant lip glosses and eye shadows they have lain out, but doesn't know why and doesn't take that as a good sign. He's already explained to her she isn't going on stage, unless she absolutely wants to. So she knows that fear isn't the reason she suddenly feels quiet.

The familiar LD screen in the top corner starts blinking the five minute warning, and right on schedule, the man in the full black suit knocks on the door. They rise from the comfy bean bags, and head to the landing area. He's not used to Ally being quiet, and really hates when she is, especially when he has no idea why. This agitates him, and Austin suddenly regrets making Trish schedule this interview.

His hand goes protectively to his right pants pocket, where the emergency index cards Dez gave him are hidden. He's never had to use speech cards for anything before, not even a class project, but there's a first time for everything and he's actually nervous about going out there. A commercial break is called, and he realizes once they become live again Helen is going to introduce him and he's going to have to make his way across the stage, into the armchair.

Ally stands next to someone she assumes is a producer in front of the plasma television they have back stage. She's taping her foot impatiently, while mindlessly staring at the back of Austin's head. Once Helen's voice rings out of the TVs speakers, though, she turns her attention to the screen. She's utterly intrigued, and smiles as he's introduced and he walks across the stage while her song "Without You" plays.

He sits down across from the estranged older woman, neatly brushing off his jeans.

"Austin! How does it feel to be back here?"

He looks straight into the camera and smiles, showing off his straight pearly whites. "I can't even describe it. Too many memories. But it feels right, seeing as this was where I did my very first interview."

"That's right. A whole year ago. What's it like, knowing it's been a whole year?"

"Honestly, whenever I think about it, I smile. It's just such a happy thing, knowing that I've had all these awesome new people and opportunities in my life. Especially," he turns away from the camera to face Helen, a slight tint of pink playing across his checks, "my partner."

Ally knows she's blushing too, and hears the crowd chorus an "awww."

"Your partner? The one who trashed this studio last year?"

Austin looks down at his lap, laughing lightly. "Yeah, that's the one. But she's also my best friend."

"I think we'll come back to her later. But back to what I was saying; do you think you've grown this year? As a person, an artist, anything?"

"Oh, I've defiantly grown this year. A think a full three inches," the crowd laughs, and he sends his famous smirk to the girls in the front row, "But yeah, I've learned so many new things and experienced so many new things, too. I'm not the same guy that was here last year; I like to think I'm more mature, but I know a few people that would disagree."

"But what exactly has changed?"

"I'm not even sure, really. I guess I just see a lot of things differently. Like maybe having a career at such a young age isn't the most important thing."

"But you've always been so driven, from what I could tell. What makes you say that?"

"I guess I just realized that staying young and acting responsible are two different things, but they work together. Rushing into something that's going to steal my privacy away, when I'm only 16 isn't exactly a good teenage experience or whatever."

"So does this mean you're putting your entire career on hold for now?"

"Oh, absolutely not! I'm already so far, and knowing I have fans that actually care, it's the best thing ever. All I'm saying is that if I don't play a concert or something every month, it's not the end of the world."

"Well, Austin, I can honestly say you've gotten much wiser. Who do you think has influenced that the most, over the past year?"

"That's a tough question. I want to say Ally, cause really, she's the one that gave me a similar speech, but much deeper and better. But I've spent a lot a time at her house, with her dad. He's such a great guy, almost like an older brother to me. But he's the perfect example of being old but young at the same time."

"Now, Ally is your partner, right?"

"Yeah. She writes all my songs."

"Have you guys gotten into lots of fights over the past year?"

"I feel like we haven't, but I know we have. Just stupid stuff though, and we always move on from it in, like, an hour."

"That's good. Now what about the other people involved in your career? Where do they fit in?"

"The two other people involved the most are my other best friends; Trish and Dez. Trish manages me, she's the one that booked me here today, and at the mall next week for a half hour concert to raise money for a cancer project. And Dez is a film maker, so he shoots all my music videos. My parents help out, too, but mostly with just support. And I don't think my Dads 100% on board with me going into the music biz yet."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't think it's a guaranteed success; he thinks I would be better off as a lawyer or doctor, because they're jobs that are almost certain to provide."

"So, really, he's just looking out for you?"

"Yeah, that's how he sees it and wants me to see it."

"But how do you see it?"

"I feel like he's not concerned about my happiness, just how much money I'll be able to make and how far it will take me."

"I'm sure that's not true, Austin. Parents are required to care about your happiness."

He shrugs, and says, "I guess."

"So what is your latest project?"

"Nothing specific; we just write songs whenever we can, and film videos whenever we can."

"Besides music? Maybe, I don't know, working on getting a girlfriend?"

He blushes, and puts a hand on his neck. "That's a sensitive topic."

"Why?"

"Because...because I'm not totally positive I like this one girl, and I think I have my doubts because, she's, I can't even describe it...she's forbidden."

"Ooh, forbidden love. Haven't you ever heard of Romeo and Juliet? Forbidden is good, Austin. It's romantic."

"She's not exactly forbidden, but I already have a food relationship with her and I don't want to screw it all up because of some feelings."

"Well, I hope it works out for you. She's a very lucky girl, whoever it is. Now, I understand your film maker, Dez, uploaded a new video to your website just a few minutes ago. The tag said it was filmed today, and your manger called asking for it to be featured during this interview."

"Yeah, I thought they would pull something like this."

"Are you okay with it?"

"Of course I am. The whole reason I filmed it was because I wanted people to see it. I just don't want to run out of time."

"Oh, that won't happen, you are booked for a double session. Now, let's watch this new video!"

Cheering erupts, and Ally is currently sitting on the floor, hand covering her face. She knew that they were taking a 'goof off' video shoot to seriously! Now the whole country was going to see her, on a screen. What if they don't like it? What if they don't approve?

The video is stunning, even if it is only a cover. It starts with Austin driving full speed, slamming the breaks, and then slamming the car door behind him. He kicks a pebble hard, sending it soaring across the road, and then the music blasts. It cuts in and out of shots of him singing, and both of them frolicking through the field. She only gets to see bits and pieces of it, and when the picture freezes as the music comes to a halt, she's afraid of what the reaction is.

Ally is most definitely taken aback when they receive a standing ovation. She peeks up to the screen, seeing Austin and herself. Their foreheads are pressed together, smiles on their faces, and eyes closed. If you were to seal the space between them — the one, two inches tops — they would be kissing.

"That was amazing! And it was a cover. Why did you do a cover, instead of an original song?"

"We don't really have one we're in love with right now. I've just heard that song a lot and, I don't know, had a connection to it."

"I wonder why that is," Helen says while giving Austin a look that says I-don't-have-to-wonder-at-all-cause-it's-so-obvious. He either doesn't catch it, or chooses to ignore it, because all he does in response is shrug. "Well, Austin, I think we'll take a few questions from the fans, and then say goodbye."

"That sounds like a good plan."

"Okay, first fan question; what's your favorite song that you've ever sung? From Austie-for-life."

"Aw, thanks for being a fan for life!" he says, and then clears his throat, "But my favorite song is probably either 'Better Together' or 'Not a Love Song' they both have lots of meaning behind them, and taught me really important lessons."

"My favorite would have to be 'Not a Love Song' even if it is named wrong, I mean, it is a love song technically, right! But anyway, Jelly-Bear wants to know if you sing in the shower?"

"Of course I do! Who doesn't? I used to dance, too, but once you slips and fall on a bar of soap, it's not too fun anymore." The crowd laughs, and Ally gives a shake of the head and a smile.

"Carmen-Loves-Austin asks if you could have anyone in the world to star as you in a movie, who would it be?"

"Ross Lynch. He's my celebrity look alike, and we have really similar personalities."

"Chelly14 wants to know if you would ever date a fan?"

"I'm always going to want to date a fan, cause that means they like a support me. But I wouldn't want to date a girl that's going to fan girl in front of me."

"Erin-Freak asks if you hadn't posted that video, what would you be doing right now?"

"I would hope I'd still be a musician, but who knows. Maybe my dad would have convinced me and I would have given up music."

"Mary-My-My wants to know when was the last time you cried, and why?"

"Oh, god, that's a hard question. I don't cry often. Um, probably a few months ago, when Ally and me got into a horrible fight."

"What was it about?"

"She used to have a really huge crush on this guy named Dallas, and they went out for, like, three weeks. But I saw him with another girl, and immediately told her. She insisted that I was lying because I was jealous."

"Were you jealous?"

"Uh, yeah. I was. But let's not tell her that, okay?"

"I think our viewers can keep a secret. Jabber-Jay12 wants to know if you've ever taken voice lessons?"

"Not until a couple months ago. Ally sat me down and taught me a few more things, like how to sing through to note and proper vocal warm ups."

"Ally seems to come up a lot in your life. She must mean a lot to you," Helen says gently, and he can tell that interview is wrapping up, so she's hitting him with the intense questions that are meant to be the finale.

"She means more than a lot to me."

"You two sure have a good brother-sister thing going on."

If Austin was drinking anything, he would have just done a spit take. Considering he wasn't, though, he just chokes on a mixture of his own saliva and air. When his fit of coughing end, he shakes his head like a mad man. "Me and Trish have a brother-sister relationship, not me and Ally."

"Well, what's the difference between the two relationships?"

"It's complicated."

"What about it is complicated, Austin?"

He bits his lip, and turns away while tapping his foot nervously.

"Austin, I told you earlier, our viewers can keep a secret."

He takes in a rather large deep breath, and turns back to Helen. "I can't put it into words. That's what Ally does; she puts feelings into words. But I guess I could say that we are, I don't know, _deeper_ than brother and sister. Like, today, I grabbed her hand and held it so many times, whereas if me and Trish did that, it would be awkward."

"So, what kind of relationship do Trish and Dez have?"

Austin smiles, and noticeably relaxes. "We're not really sure. Me and Ally have walked in on them mid make out, but the next time we see them they're about to rip out each other's throats."

Everyone starts to laugh again, but then the director signals that the show only has five more minutes.

"Well, Austin, I think I speak for everyone here when I congratulate you on your success. I'm sorry you didn't get to perform tonight, as a tradition."

Austin shrugs. "That's okay. Last year was about having people hear me, so maybe this year should be about having people know me."

"That's a great plan. I hope you'll be sitting right there in that chair next year, on this date as well."

"I hope so too. It could be our little tradition!"

Helen smiles and laughs lightly, a gleam in her eyes. "Goodnight, America!" she shouts to the camera, and then she gets up to start dancing like a maniac. A buzzing sound is heard, and then Helen stops and looks directly at Austin.

"Great job, Austin. Great year."

He stands up and modestly looks at the floor. "Thanks. It means a lot. Thanks for letting me come back here."

"No problem, sweetie." She had this weird look on her face, almost a frown, but it has adoration and something that looks similar to pity in it. She traps him in a quick hug, and when they pull back, she says, "I feel like one of my kids is growing up."

"Don't think of it as growing up. Just think of it as learning lessons."

"Did you come up with that?"

"No, tho—

"—se are the words of Ally Dawson. Me," Ally says leaning on a wall, just out of the cameras view. Austin looks over at her, and then they both run up to capture one another in an embrace. They didn't even have to make a gesture; as soon as their eyes connected, they both knew they needed to be in one another's arms. He picks off the floor and spins her around, but even when her feet meet the floor again, they're still wrapped up within each other.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispers into his ear. His body is a wire, charged with feelings that he's only ever gotten from her.

"I'm so proud of _us,_" he was, exaggerating out the 'us'. After a few more seconds, they break apart, revealing smiles that would beat the Cheshire cat's.

They stay in the studio for another ten minutes or so, taking pictures and cracking jokes with the crew. They leave to go to their dressing room, though, after awhile. It's when Ally jokingly throws a pillow in his face after he made an arrogant comment about himself, that Austin realizes he doesn't have any doubts about who he likes. It's not something he should get mad over, but it's not a rage kind of mad. Really, it's frustration, but it has that same maddening affect and he would rather just call it that. He's mad that he prefers blue eyes, but her caramel eyes melt him on the spot. He's mad that he has always had a thing for blonds, but she is a brunette. He's mad that he likes girls that can look him in the eye, but he always has to tilt his head down to meet hers. And most of all, he's mad at how much he likes her. It's not even fair how much he does; but he can't help it, no matter how much he might want to change it. She's carved into him, a part of him; he's terrified of losing that other half, and that over powers his anger (frustration) about his true feelings towards her.

"Austin?" her velvet voice asks, pulling him out of his thought process. "Did you even hear what I said?"

"Uh, no, sorry. Didn't catch that."

"I said, where are we off to next?" she has his other jacket neatly folded through her crossed arms, meaning he obviously missed her picking up the few belongs they had sprawled throughout the room. "Can you actually tell me, for once?"

He shakes his head in mock disappointment, and says, "Ally, I thought you would have caught on by now. I haven't told you all day, and I'm still not going to."

She tilts her head back so she's staring up at the light fixtures, and emits a loud groan. "Well can we get going," she grumbles out with her eyes closed, as she brings her head back down.

"If you do something for me," he says wiggling his eye brows.

She gives him a suspicious glance, and says cautiously, "Depends on what it is."

"If you say, 'Austin, you are the coolest, most talented, awesome guy I know' we can go right now."

She groans again, and shakes her head no. "What did I do to deserve this! You know I don't telling lies," she says challengingly, and he gives her a glare.

"Oh, now you're going to get it." he lunges for her, and then they plunge onto the shag carpet. He has her wrists under a death grip while she squirms and laughs hysterically. He twists his feet so they hold down her legs, too, so he's completely pinning her down underneath him. They both are in hysterics, mouths stretched up to their ears.

"Austin, get off of me!" she chokes out between laughs. He leans down, so their foreheads about half an inch apart. Her breath catches in his throat, cutting off her laughter and panting.

"This is your punishment, though," he whispers with a serious face, their eyes both darting back and forth from the others lips and eyes. After he licks his own lips, and gives one last longing stare down at hers, he stands up and offers her a hand. She looks at, but then slaps it away and stands up by herself.

"That was so not funny," she says straightening out her outfit. Once she is confident her shirt is wrinkle-free, she looks up to his eyes, which immediately causes her to fall back into a fit of laughs.

"Well then why are you laughing," he questions through a we chuckles of his own.

"Cause of your face," she says as she snaps out of her cackling.

"What about my angel face could ever make you laugh?"

"Hm, you're right. Maybe it's not your face, but your ego."

"My ego is perfect, thank you very much."

"Right, keep telling yourself that. You seem to believe it," she says fighting back giggles.

He rolls his eyes through a smile, and goes to open the door. "Come on, we're going to miss it."

"Miss what, exactly?" she ask hopefully, still trying to pry an answer out of him.

"You'll see," he says, throwing an arm around her shoulder as the exit the room, into the hallway. They walk out into the car offering each other a few more bantering jabs, but more so just stealing glances at one another. He opens her door, as usual, and then as soon as the car engine reeves to life, she clicks on the radio. 'La La' by The Cab comes on, and they immediately jump in to the chorus. He gladly turns the volume up, enjoying every single time she tries to project her voice louder than the speaker.

Ally hangs an arm out the side, loving the way the wind licks her face as they floor down the highway. Her eyes take in the wispy clouds that are currently bleeding an assortment of colors; light purples, dark reds, soft oranges, gleaming yellows, and pinks that remind her of the flowers that bloom right outside her window sill. Ally's always preferred the sunset to the sunrise, even though both astonish her to the point of speechlessness. She looks back over to Austin, loving the way the sky reflects of his golden hair. _I think he actually makes it more beautiful, _she thinks fleetingly, and turns back to face the right side.

* * *

"We're here," Austin says with a sigh of content. Ally sighs, too, while leaning on her hand that is currently cupping her face. She recognizes the place; a small, circular part of the beach that is normally vacant during the night, because the limited light the moon reflects is very minuscule, and only there for about an hour, two hours tops. She's surprised more people aren't here at this hour; tints of the sunset still linger among the horizon, and some traces of it are still smeared in the atmosphere. Only, it is one of the more secluded places on the beach, which is one of the reasons Team Austin has always inhabited it.

"Is this the last stop of the day?" she asks, as he hops over his own door to coed around to hers.

"If you want to spend the night here, sure. But if you want to sleep in an actual building, than no," he says as he opens and shuts her door. She leans back over the side to grab the over sized bag Trish gave her earlier, and Austin goes to the trunk to retrieve, what she assumes, is the brief case Dez gave him earlier. She kicks off her beloved boots, and stalks barefoot onto the sand dunes.

Once she gets down to the shore, Ally throws the bag behind her and turns to see where Austin is. She giggles slightly at what she sees; Austin carrying a beach blanket, a picnic basket, the brief case, and a guitar case, whole balancing several pillows on top of everything. He's stumbling over his own feet, something she's never seen before and finds quite humorous. She sprints back up to him, and takes the guitar from him.

"You could have made two trips," she says as he smiles thankfully towards her.

"Yeah, I could've, but that would have taken twice as long," he says in an obvious voice.

He sets up everything for her, and she realizes exactly how much he treats her like a princess. He went the whole nine yards — vanilla and strawberry scented candles, her favorites, a picnic basket full of her absolute favorite foods, that he made himself, and he even brought decorative pillows so he could transform a simple beach blanket to a whole pit of coziness.

"Dallas never treated me this good," she whispers while staring up at the sky that was currently shifted to a black sheet with speckles of light.

He looks over to her indifferent facial expression, forgetting about the last candle he was about to light. He stretches his arm over to hers, and suffocates her tiny, fragile fingers in his own strong, steady ones, to give her a quick reassuring squeeze, but then he lets her hand go. "Let's not spoil tonight, talking about a jerk like him," he says, scooting closer to her, forcefully opening her mouth, and popping a grape in. She smiles and chews, so thankful that he's in her life.

"Maybe we could just spend the night here," she says with her eyes closed, as he feeds her another grape.

"If you want to," he says as he lies down next to her.

They spend about an hour slowly eating the food he prepared, and pointing out the constellations that are slowly starting to appear in the darkness. They joke more, and eventually their hands snake back together. They have a cheesy, cliché grape challenge, where they try to catch the grapes in their mouth after the other throws it too them, but after she misses her fifth one and he catches his sixth in a row, she pelts him with the fruit, and it just becomes an all out grape war. She runs down to the shore, where the tide kisses her toes. He follows her lead, and then it becomes a splash war, until she finally just jumps up on him, resulting in both of them plummeting into the warm water. They both laugh once they resurface, and are wrapped up in one another's arms. They pant as they laugh, just like earlier, too.

"What was that for?" he asks, still trying to catch his breath.

"Your punishment," she says smugly, rephrasing what he said to her earlier. He smiles, and rests his forehead on hers.

Suddenly, she realizes how intimate they are being; with her legs wrapped around his waist, arms securely around his neck, and his hands holding her around her waist. Her face is taken over with a rush of heat, and she's thankful he can't see her blushing.

"Who is she," Ally whispers out painfully, shutting her eyes tight.

"Who is what?" he asks confused, closing his eyes as well.

"The girl you were talking about earlier on the Helen show. The one who is forbidden." Her voice is coming out raspy, in a monotone.

Now it's his turn to be happy that the darkness hides the red hue spreading across his face. He never really thought she would ask about it; if she had to be aware of what he said at all, he'd hoped she would either connect the dots, and tell him that she liked him _that way_ as well, or she would just assume it was the girl that worked at the bathing suit store.

"Don't worry about," he says quickly, opening his eyes in alert.

"I told you who I liked," she whined as she pulled back and opened her own eyes.

"Well you haven't told me who you like now," he said, desperate to change the subject.

She bites down on her lip, hard, annoyed knowing that she was being hypocritical, and had walked herself right into a mess. "I'll tell you who I like when you tell me who you like," she snaps in a harmless tone.

"Touché," he says, and suddenly, their whole position becomes extremely awkward. Ally unskillfully jumps off of him, doing a back flop into the water; but it manages to lighten the mood. Austin holds his stomach as he laughs, and when Ally resurfaces she has a moment of grumbling before she joins him.

They stomp through the water back to their set up, but they don't lay on the blanket, afraid to ruin it. They sit in the car instead, softly listening to the radio, while talking nonsense.

"Come on," he says when 'Wide Awake' by Katy Perry comes through the speakers. They both get out of the car, and then, in the deserted parking lot, they dance. They've danced so many times in the past that Ally doesn't step on his feet, or her own, for the matter, once. He takes her in for the dip at the very last possible moment, but they don't come out of it till they both register a new song has started, and is already in the second verse. They just stare into each other's eyes, trying to study and memorize every detail of them. It's a full moon, so everything is just visible, much to their liking. He notices — not for the first time, but still — the black lines that run from her pupil to the tip of her iris, even though her pupils are dilated, making the irises thinner than normal. She takes in the rings of green and brown that form in his eyes — she has always loved his hazel eyes, especially loving how they aren't completely brown. He pulls her back up slowly, but they don't leave each other's arms. She nuzzles into his chest, and he pulls her closer as they slow dance to a fast song.

Austin and Ally have had many suggestively romantic moments throughout the year, yes, but not quite as many packed into one day. Austin can only think about how they've acted more like a couple than best friends for the day, and he knows that something has changed. Only, for once, it's a good change. He has this stirring feeling inside of him, something that is telling him that after tonight, it's just not going to be the same. He should be scared, really, but he can only feel this calmness flowing over him; he doesn't like how girly it sounds, but he knows it's from Ally being in his arms.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ally exclaims, and breaks away from him. They are only damp now, thanks to the Florida summer heat, so she runs down and sits on the blanket, gesturing for him to come and sit next to her.

He plops down next to her, as she rummages through the bag Trish gave her.

"I knew this was going to be in here! You can count on Trish," she mutters, pulling a small gift wrapped box out of the bag. "I know, it's stupid to get you a gift, but...I couldn't help myself," she says shyly with a small smile. Se hands over the package, and he smiles.

"It's cool. I got something for you, too," he says while reaching for the brief case. He pulls out a gift box that looks poorly wrapped compared to her prestigious, ribbon-tied, evenly taped wrapping job. She smiles wider, and gently takes it from him.

"Ready? On the count of three, we'll open them together. One, two, three!" The sound of ripping is heard, and then they both gasp slightly.

She giggles slightly and says, "Well, this is a coincidence, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Austin says, still staring in disbelief at his lap. On it sits the new Zalien movie that was just released yesterday, a pack of yellow and red guitar picks engraved _A&A,_ and something that he's never been allowed to touch; Ally's journal.

"Thank you," they both say at the same time, causing another rack of laughter.

Ally runs her hands over the binding of the new journal Austin got her; a silver book with sparkles lining the perimeter, and her name written across the front in puffy paint. It's not the neatest handwriting she's ever seen, so she knows immediately that Austin wrote it himself. Her eyes go to the treble clef earrings he got her, and a 200 page book about the different types of clouds.

She carefully opens the cover page, seeing that the first piece of paper had already been written on, in the same scrawl that the front cover has:

_Hey, Ally! If you're reading this, it means it either is our anniversary, or it's the day after. So, happy anniversary! Can't believe it's been a whole year since we met..._

_Well, I hope you like your presents. And no, don't worry, they didn't cost a lot of money. I sat here in front of this book for over ten minutes, trying to figure out what to write. I have so much. Want to tell you, but I just can't get it to come out right. Even now, when I'm halfway through the note, I'm still having trouble writing._

_But that's what makes our partnership so perfect, Ally-cat. You always know what words to use where to put them and how to say them. It's one of the reasons I like you so much – you just always know what to say._

_I guess I want to say thanks. Thanks for being there for me, for this long of a time. Honestly, I don't understand how you didn't just give up on me when I went all crazy at you for taking forever to write a new song. So a few people mistook me for a dog food commercial guy? They obviously weren't my real fans. Thanks to you, I finally can see that._

_Seriously, how do write in these journals all the time? I've written, what, four paragraphs, and my hand already hurts. And, I'm out of things to say._

_Love,_

_Austin_

She smiles as her finger traces the last words on the page; it's not the first time he's signed his name after that word, but for some reason it's the first time that actually means something to her. She looks up to see his nose in her book, eyes glued to the page. She smiles a little wider, happy to see her best friend _enjoying_ reading.

_He's so cute when he has his eye brows knit together in concentration, _she thinks, as she studies his facial feature more. He looks up to her and smirks, loving the fact he caught her staring.

"You know Ally, if you take a picture, it will last longer," he says cockily, while setting the journal down.

"Why would I want to have to look at _that,_" she says pointing to his face, "any longer."

He gets on his knees and closes some of the remaining space between them. "Because you were staring at it. And, come on, admit it, I am sexy," he says huskily while wriggling his eye brows.

"And I think you know it a little too well," she says, giggling.

His face light up, and then he answers, "Ha! So you admit it, I'm sexy!"

"Hold on, I never said th—"

"But you didn't say I wasn't, so ha!"

"Oh, god—your ego, it's filling up the whole world, oh crap, can't breathe, it's suffocating—" He cuts her off by tackling her, an action that is getting a little old for the two of them.

"Take that back," he whispers seductively, "my ego is perfectly sized, thank you very much."

"I don't think it is," she whispers back, staring at the pair of lips that are centimeters away from her own. He notices her line of vision, and leans in even closer.

"If I'm not sexy," he continues to whisper, "then why are you leaning in, when you should be leaning back?"

She pulls back and blushes darker than ever before, and he just chuckles. Afterwards, though, a silence washes over them. It's not awkward like earlier when they were in the water; it's just full of lust and longing as they stare at each other's mouths.

_"I should, I should oh, I should have kissed you," _he sings softly after a few minutes, and then she just can't take it; he's such a tease, singing about kissing her, but never really doing it. The nerve, honestly—

—And then the angry rant going on in her mind comes to a halt, as he finally ends the teasing that's been going on for the last year. He's so sick and tired of being scared of what might happen, how she might react. It doesn't matter, anyways; if they both feel this, and both know that it's real and here to stay, why bother avoiding it.

She's lost in his lips, and he hers. It's everything she ever imagined it to be; the cliché, passionate, steady kiss that always makes an appearance in her dreams. He's never felt so girly, but he can finally understand what the movies mean when they talk about sparks and fireworks. He's sure they're just going to ignite, with all the fire he feels.

They pull back, after a good chunk of time passes. They want and stare into each other's eyes, wondering he they ever got along without kissing before.

"Wow," is all she can say.

"That's all you're going to say? Really? After that?"

"It's all I thought to say."

"But, but you're Ally– you always have more to say."

"You," she blurts out, as soon as he finishes his sentence.

"What?" he asks, switching from hovering over her to sitting up straight.

"Earlier we agreed to tell each other who we like, but only after one of us spoke first. I couldn't take it, after a kiss like that, Dallas never even looked at me with as much emotion as that kiss had, holy, and I really just want you to answer me right now, because—"

"You," he says, once his brain finally registers what the beginning of her mile-a-minute speech was.

She smiles, and leans her head back. "It took us a whole year to say that."

"Yeah," he says while lying down next to her, "we wasted so much time."

"I know we did," she says, smirking. Then she yawns, and curls up into his side. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Goodnight, Austin."

"Sweet dreams, Ally," he whispers as soon as he hears the first snore. He falls asleep shortly after, still smiling and thinking about everything that had happened that day.

* * *

**A/N: This took me forever to write, and now that I'm finally done with it, I hate it. The ending is bad, and the characters are OOC, but whatever. **

**Please don't favorite without reviewing! And reviewing only takes thirty seconds, really...**

**I just want to say that I love this fandom. I've only posted in three, but I've read in more than I can count, and can honestly say I think this one has some of the nicest people in the world. I love how there is this pack of people that review to just about every story in the archive. Just keep doing what you are doing :)**

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